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Because of a change in law through the Criminal Justice Initiative, some offenders who abuse controlled substances are avoiding hard prison time. In April, Agnes Drapeaux — of Mitchell — took methamphetamine, was caught and then in June pleaded guilty to unauthorized ingestion of a controlled substance, which is a felony under a new law. By July, she was sentenced to five years of probation with three months of jail. Two years ago, she could have been sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison. Instead, she received a suspended four-year prison sentence and probation.

Officials say a Mitchell woman who was killed Sept. 1 died due to strangulation. Donald McDougal, 49, of Mitchell, is charged with the murder of his wife, Janie Sue McDougal, 49, who was found unconscious in the couple's apartment on Sept. 1. She was pronounced dead at Avera Queen of Peace Hospital between midnight and 12:04 a.m. Sept. 2, according to court documents. Dr. Kenneth Snell, a forensic pathologist and Minnehaha County coroner, performed the autopsy on Janie McDougal's body.

The man who killed a Mitchell woman in 2013 was found dead in his prison cell early Monday morning. Kent Davidson, 37, was convicted in April and sentenced to life in prison in May for first-degree murder for the death of Crystal Ann Schulz, 26. Schulz and Davidson were engaged for a time before her death. But when she broke it off with Davidson, he devised a plan to kill her, according to court documents.

PICKSTOWN — A Charles Mix County judge will allow blood evidence showing Ronald Fischer Jr. was intoxicated when his vehicle struck and killed two pedestrians in July 2013 in Pickstown. According to Judge Bruce Anderson's decision, filed Thursday, he denied Fischer's motions to suppress evidence gathered from blood draws and medical records.

Mitchell police are investigating the death of a 49-year-old woman. Around 11:30 p.m. Monday, a neighbor called law enforcement concerned there was a woman dead at 615 S. Main St., Apt. 3, said Detective Lt. Don Everson. Officials responded and found the woman dead in her apartment shortly thereafter. "There is no obvious sign of foul play," Everson said Tuesday.

WHITE LAKE - Ninety-five percent of David Gillen's crops were damaged by wind and hail earlier this summer. Of those crops, he estimates a 20 to 100 percent loss, depending on the area. Gillen, who farms in Aurora County near White Lake, surveyed one of his soybean fields Tuesday that was completely destroyed. He said he'd never seen hail like what dropped on his crops. "A hail storm humbles a person," he said. "And that's needed from time to time.

Mitchell police are investigating the death of a 49-year-old woman. Around 11:30 p.m. Monday, a neighbor called law enforcement concerned there was a woman dead at 615 S. Main St., Apt. 3, said Detective Lt. Don Everson said. "There is no obvious sign of foul play," Everson said Tuesday.